Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Since the article below was written, Senator Kennedy has passed away. All of the information sent to his office originally seems to have been wandering around the bureaucracy and we are still at the original starting place. If anyone has any ideas about how to get an immovable object moving, please let us know.

On April 29, 1945 Ed Cowley wrote home to his family in a way not to worry them,

"I haven’t seen too many of their “atrocities” but I’ve seen enough to know that there is some basis to all this talk. There is nothing kind about the Nazis whatsoever. They’ve starved their slave labor & lived so well themselves that its pitiful. Too bad there isn’t some way to make them pay for what they’ve done in the last six years."

After he returned home safely, he told the full story of what he had witnessed with the liberation of a "work camp". The 94th deserves Liberation Status and they deserve receiving it while some of the witnesses are still alive to know their bravery and compassion has been recognized.

When a Bureaucrat and a "Rule" gets in the way, it can be very difficult to do the right thing even with a Senator on your side

Last night, Kathleen Cowley tried to explain to a blog friend one more time about why this is so important and how little it would take to make this happen and what needs to happen next:

The Holocaust Museum told me what documentation was needed to apply, there was information posted on their site and taken directly from the Army bulletin which described the procedure.

Approximate date of liberation

Unit geographical location

Brief account of the events from 1 person. - We had two first hand accounts of that day.

Request for recognition from a Unit Assoc. or an individual of that Unit.

We had an approximation of the date as my father wrote home weekly- it was finding the letters which started this whole process. I had been in touch with the Holocaust Museum previous to finding them because I was trying to research the name of the camp my father liberated for our own family history. I called the Holocaust Museum that day and told them of the letters and most importantly the one which mentions the "atrocities". They were thrilled, and several people gathered in the office to hear the news while I was on the phone. This is when they informed me that the letter of April 1945 was the sort of documentation which would allow us to pursue Liberator status.

We thought documenting the geographic location would be the bugaboo, but Sen. Kennedy and his office really shined through on resolving this. We needed the Unit Operational Records which are at the Library of Congress. It is a lengthy process to request info from them and ordinarily takes about a year, but not when Sen. Kennedy is involved. The Library of Congress called me and asked me what I needed! I received the Records within 3 weeks. These records verified the dates and location and it was a great triumph to receive them this quickly.

Everything required was submitted with not one but two testimonies. We thought we were sitting pretty and just waiting to hear of approval. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect the answer to be a resounding No! This bureaucrat had denied Liberator status because they did not liberate an extermination camp. There were six extermination camps, none of them in Germany. Some of the 35 Units recognized as Liberators were for camps in Germany.

I felt ( and still do) so terrible, my father and Thom had dredged up these horrific memories for nought. What a kick in the teeth. Sen. Kennedy intended to argue that we had met the requirements in the bulletin. He submitted this whole problem to the Congressional Research Center to help resolve this ( Kennedy's military liaison told me that this was a pretty big deal and seemed confident that they would be helpful in sorting this all out) and that is where this whole thing rested until I spoke with Sen. Kennedy's office last week who told me that the Research Center wasn't much help and Senator Kennedy's time is now very constrained.

Now we have to do it the hard way. It either takes a verdict from on high from somewhere in Veterans Affairs, an Act of Congress, or a Presidential Executive Order to simply give these men and their compatriots of the 94th the honor they earned.

They missed this past Veteran's Day. Now we aim for Memorial Day. It is such a little thing, but bureaucracy is horrid when it takes only one person and one rule standing in your way.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Senator Kerry's office asked for clarification on the history of the 94th during the march across the Rhine in the last days of WW II. The following is Kathleen Cowley's response to those queries. This is actually a positive development because it means the powers that be are finally, actually listening. Just remember who is waiting for this issue to be resolved.

During our phone conversation of January 29, 2010 your aide Brady Vanengelen asked me to forward to you both my thoughts and response to Pete Geren’s letter dated Sept, 9, 2009. Please know that I am indebted to you and your staff for your continued commitment.

“The USHMC and USCMM established procedures and criteria for determining which US Army Units The Museum would recognize as liberating units." This is true, but it was established as a tandem project, in this case the USCMH has left the USHMM out of the process. The role of the USCMH is to verify the location of the unit. The location of the 1st Battalion was verified in the After Action Report For April 1945, Headquarters 301st. Infantry procured for us by Sen. Kennedy.

Portions of the 4th and 5th paragraph of the Sept. 9th letter are inaccurate. The 94th lead the Drive to the Rhine, they were not relieving positions at this point in time. The historians seem to be confused and focusing on the wrong time period. Thomas Manthey’s reaction to these paragraphs was “We weren’t following anyone. Those persons at the prison certainly gave no indication that they had already been liberated!”

“We were at the Front and approaching Ludwigshaven, about 5 miles short of it, when the American captured planes lead by a Messerschmitt flew over us, and we abandoned our convoy and headed for the ditches. We were ordered to hold off and go in and take it (Ludwigshaven) in the morning, so we bunked out in some nearby houses. They decided to let the tanks go through, but they found that the tanks had been slaughtered. We then went through Ludwigshaven, the Germans had retreated, and it was outside of Ludwigshaven, where we came across this camp. After we were there for a couple of hours we were then ordered to leave as the medical people were expected to arrive within a short time to take care of the freed prisoners. Shortly thereafter we were reassigned to go north to Velbert, in the Dusseldorf Krefeld area. I recall vividly the truck convoy from where we were to the Dusseldorf area, a distance of about a hundred miles. At that time the War was over and we were administering the peace, one of the duties was to protect the German farmers during the night from being slaughtered from the wandering freed Russian displaced persons. ”

“ The War ended in May, this was well before that, because we were the ones going in to take Ludwigshaven and there were no American troops ahead of us then. When the American tanks passed through us, they were halted and crucified at the fringes of Ludwigshaven. There was certainly no one ahead of them and we during the daylight hours went in to Ludwigshaven to find it abandoned. The tanks that passed through us, were completely demolished by being ambushed by the defending enemy troops in Ludwigshaven. Immediately thereafter the Germans abandoned Ludwigshaven and we went through the town which was empty of any human beings and continued on to when we came upon the camp, a few miles outside of Ludwigshaven.“

I believe it was either historian and author Douglas Brinkley, or Michael Norman, who appeared on Imus in June 2009, following Sen. Kerry, Craig Crawford and the discussion of the campaign for Liberator Status for the 94th Inf. Div. He found it incredulous that they hadn’t already been recognized as Liberators. He exclaimed something closely to “ Of course they were Liberators, they were right there, they spearheaded the drive! ” The participation of a true historian, such as Douglas Brinkley or Michael Norman, one who actually wants to uncover and record history properly is desperately needed as opposed to the apathetic bureaucrats who have been until now overseeing Sen. Kennedy’s request for Liberator Status.

Upon reading the guidelines, it becomes clear that the Army greatly valued the role of liberators and their intent was that every unit involved in liberation be recognized, as they “deserve to be honored and remembered by all”. One would think that an Army historian would relish this fleeting opportunity to properly document history. The bulletin admits “ The very number of camps makes it likely that as they drove across the Third Reich, more U.S. Army divisions than originally recognized liberated concentrations camps of one type or another.”

I wonder if these “historians” are unable to uncover and follow the proper procedure stated in the army bulletin (The Professional Bulletin of Army History, Fall/Winter 1992/1993, 1–5.) last used to determine Liberator Status 19 years ago, how could one expect them to be capable of analyzing the events of over 60 years ago? Never once, in their attempt to study the history of the 94th, did they contact the primary sources, my father Edward Cowley and Thomas Manthey, to inquire about any details regarding the camp they encountered that day. If they had they would have found out that they not only liberated one camp, but two. The second camp was not filled with the unspeakable horrors of the first- my father believes that the prisoners had recently arrived there and were not in the same devastated condition as that of the first filled with the dead and dying. Additionally, Thomas Manthey has in his possession, a German Walther 32 caliber pistol that while leaving the first camp he found lying in 3 pieces back in the woods, adjacent to the camp.

Edward Cowley and Thomas Manthey were in the ASTP program, among the brightest lads in the country, chosen to be educated and trained as officers. In fact the required IQ level for ASTP was 120, while the IQ for Officer Training was 110. The casualties of the War mounted and these young men were sent instead to the Front as infantry soldiers. They earned four battle stars: Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. They fought and suffered through the Battle of the Bulge (where my father earned a Bronze Star for Valor) and the Orsholtz disaster. They remained only Pvts. but these two men are scholars and gentlemen who fought for our Country and saved countless lives. They are heroes, not liars.

In his letter dated January 18, 2008 Senator Kennedy personally apologized to me “for the tardiness of the US Army Center of Military History’s response which, unfortunately is not the response both you and I were hoping for.” Sadly their tardiness only continued. Despite Sen. Kennedy’s serious illness they did not respond to his request that the 94th be considered for recognition as a Liberating Unit dated June 2nd 2009 until September 9th, 2009, 15 days after his death. This letter of response never even surfaced until it reached Sen. Kerry’s office January 29th, 2010. Clearly their disregard for this issue, and their inability to perceive the paramount urgency of time is obvious if this is how they responded to Sen. Kennedy, one of the greatest, if not the greatest Senator in the history of our country.

Evidently the tactic used by the bureaucrats at the USCMH is that if they drag their feet long enough, the problem will go away, Sen. Kennedy and the Vets. My parents had 5 children and the Mantheys have 2, we won’t stop until history is put to rights. This issue has been featured on Craig Crawford”s Trailmix numerous times, discussed 4 times on Imus, The Huffington Post, Martha’s Vineyard Gazette. We have a website dedicated to Liberator Status (3058 hits, 1218 visitors) a Soapbox at congress.org, a growing Facebook group and a petition on Care2. Major Garrett of Fox News had every intention to cover this issue while on Martha’s Vineyard covering Pres. Obama's vacation, but his visit was cut short due to Sen. Kennedy’s death. Another national news correspondent from Fox is planning on doing a story on the campaign for Liberator Status. We won’t let this issue fade away. Every day that passes without these Heroes and Victims being recognized and honored further exposes the indifference of USCMH. What are for they there for? Now it is not only the indifference of the USCMH that is so wretched, but the unmitigated gall of the Army itself, turning a back on its own soldiers. If Patton had survived he would have made sure to clarify, with his own descriptive words, what WWII was all about and seen to it that his "Golden Nugget" would be fully recognized.

“Any nation that does not honor its heroes, will not long endure.”- Abraham Lincoln

Once again, Thank you Sen. Kerry.

Respectfully, Kathleen Cowley

P.S. Incidentally you may be interested to know that both of these humble men refused a Purple Heart during the Battle of the Bulge as they did not want to worry their families at home. Nor has either ever received the WWII Victory Medal due them.

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Cowleys
35 Woodside Ave.
Buffalo 20 N.Y.
In France
Sept 28, 1944
Dearest family,
Got a letter from my Cowleys yesterday & am very glad everyone is feeling fine, that was bad news about your last half stick of gum however. The “Fruit Cake” you’re sending will come in mighty handy. Please send one slightly used fly swatter for the insects over here, never knew any one country could have so many. Tell Dad doe that problem he asked me about in Arithmetic could be answered by anyone who went in as far in Grammar school as he did, so he should be able to figure it out himself. So Connie got himself a “Loafer” jacket, hope it doesn’t cause him as much trouble as mine did me. Heard from Bob DeWitt & he’s still in N.Mexico but I’l imagine he’l be going across shortly.

I’m not so sure the German people, Catholics or not are going to do much welcoming. They’ve played quite a number of sneak tricks on the yanks in Germany so far. None of the boys have any amicable feeling towards the Krauts & personally I know the way I intend to deal with them all, if I get the chance. They’ Theres’ only one way to deal with a Nazis, young or old, male or female. Things are a lot different in this war than in the last so don’t believe any of the pacifist propaganda that the newspapers boldly print. Don’t know why I’m doing all this talking guess I just got it in for the Krautheads. Don’t pay any attention to it.

Well I wrote to Aunt Peg the other day, I’m still working for those sandwiches she puts out without crusts etc. You’d get a laff if you could see me now, I haven’t shaved in almost 2 weeks & the same applies to washing. Brushed my teeth a couple times however. I’m in such condition that Mary Criswell wouldn’t even recognize me. Feel fine thou & we are eating very, very well. Manage a couple hot, not too hot, meals a day. Have had chicken, Turkey & Pork chops a couple times each so I can’t complain about a thing. All kinds of apple orchards around here too soo… Got the B.E. News & enjoyed reading it very much, will give it to Higgins. Well, take care of yourselves & have a beer for me every Sat. night. Keep writing as my favorite mail comes from home.
Love to all, Eddie

Letter # 92
A.S.H. 4202505
Pvt. E. Cowley
1st Bn. Hg. Co. 301 Inf
A.P.O. 94 c/o P.M. NY, NY
The Cowleys
35 Woodside Ave.
Buffalo 20 N.Y.
War & Navy Departments
V-Mail Services
Official Business
Oct 9th, 1944, In France
Dear folks,
There I go again! Took a “warm shower” yest & I’m not kidding either. We were run thru the Q.M. laundry & it felt fine to be clean, for awhile at least. Well enjoy that scrapbook you’re saving very much & maybe after the war we can look it over & laugh at everything. Have finally received all my equipment, never mentioned it before for fear you might worry, but I lost just about everything I owned in a little engagement with the Krauts. Its quite a story & think Dad will get a bang out of it. Have quite a few to tell but they all have to wait until I can get home, take off my shoes, pants & put on Dad’s oldest bathrobe & have a little beer, cheese & crackers. Have an order for 35$ to send home as soon as I can get an to envelope, also 20$ more from a little poker game the other night. How’s Margaret Lou doing at school? Can hardly wait for those edibles, hope they arrive soon. Best of everything.

Received 2 letters from home 3 nights ago & also an issue of the B.E.N. How about the So. Buffalo News? Would like to get them very much. Give Nan my best wishes for her birthday, as belated as they are. Glad to hear Nels Thubridy is at school, imagine he’l like it a lot better than hanging around without any guys to pal around with. Am enclosing 10$ which Peggy can use to see the show, it isn’t much but I can’t see any sense in keeping even that much over here as we very seldom get a chance to spend a “franc”. Be sure and let me know if you received the two money orders I sent before, 35$ & 40$, Wrote to a girl up in Cleaveland, girl friend’s girl friend of one of my buddies. Heard from her a couple days ago & she seems like a pretty nice kid. Another “Pen-pal” for my list. Just got 3 letters from home – 2 v-mail. In it Peggy has just started back to school, its about time, guess they’l have a lot of “work” to make up. Don’t imagine it’l bother Peggy very much. By the way if Peggy has a “good” snapshot of herself laying around anyplace I’d like to have a Donnie MacDonald priority on it so I could show off all my family. Have good ones of both you & Dad & a not so good one of Peggy. How about it sis?

Glad to hear Marsie made the cadets, looks like all the O’Maras are going in for nursing. How’s Danny Riordan making out up at U.B.

Can’t tell you what part of France I’m in but at least I’m still in France. We get issued a pack of smokes, a little candy bar & all our toilet articles by Uncle Sam but I still crave candy. Did I ever tell you I lost 3 pr of glasses over here, all G.I. & am now using my old “basketball” glasses (have always used them anyhow) & have my good ones in my Duffle back at Division someplace. Took a hot shower today back at Q.M. & it felt pretty good. Never saw a country where it rains so damn much. Theres no place like the good old U.S.A.

Yesterday was quite a day for me as far as the mail goes, received 8 letters & my 1st letter from you. You asked me about quite a few things & I will try to tell you just what the score is over here. Received a “Record” from State also noticed that there has been quite a change in the old faculty. You remember Miss Mulholland who taught in Room 1W on the 1s as you enter the building & for 9 years was voted the most popular Teacher in the school, well she has been replaced by some Doctor from Ohio State. I took my 1st year of Latin from here & I sure would have liked to continue but thise war will make me appreciate home, family & school probably a lot more than I could even realize before.

Well, as usual I’m feeling good & counting the minutes till this is over. Imagine the radio & newspaper are really going at it hot & heavy these days but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the war drags into 1945. You probably can see that if you still listen to the radio like you used to. Remember Dec 7th, 1941, I was 16 years old at that time & got rather tired listening to the reports on the radio about Pearl Harbor & the Japs. You must have told me half a dozen times was a what that would mean to our country & every one we knew & you were right as can be. However think I might have a bit of a break when the European war is over. Looks like we’l go into Germany as occupational forces, of course its not certain but if we did it would be 100% better than going into China. If we do I can’t expect to come home until 46’ or maybe 47’ at the earliest. According to the present plans they’re calling for military occupation for 10 years but I don’t imagine one outfit could have to stay that long. So you see what we’re up against, the end of the war will probably be another beginning for us. Can’t expect to be let out as they there is plenty of guys over here who have been here 2 or 3 years & when I’m here as long as they have been then I can start thinking about those civilian clothes again. It shouldn’t be too bad as we will probably have good barracks, good food & maybe a pass now & then. Would like to visit Switzerland & Russia. Think it might be quite an education & I could gather plenty more stories to tell you when I finally do ring that door bell. Wouldn’t tell you all this except that I kinda think Mother expects to see me with the 1st boatload of Yanks to land in the States. Hitler is rallying the Germans for a “Fight to the last” & believe me it will be. After our Tanks and armour have crushed the bigger part of their defenses the Infantry will gladly “mop up” everything that lives in Germany. We know now that we can’t afford another affair like this in 20 years hence & I think if we don’t weaken now we can prevent it, what do you think? Don’t want you to worry too much about me as I’m damn careful of every step I take & will always continue to be that way. Say Dad, I’ve been thinking, how would you like to go out with me when I get home? We’l have a little “Two-man” party up at Kleinheins / and not in the “Bargain Basement” I’ll make your eyes pop out when you see the clothes I’m going to hang in that ale closet of mine. Might even let you try on the “White Dinner Jacket” I’ve been planning on. We’l spend the day up there & afterwards the beers will be on me. Strictly a “Father & son” get together. How about it? sounds like a pretty good idea to me.

Sorry to hear Al Smith, Wilkies & our Bishop died. Strange they all went in the same week.

Well, the Cards are the champs again & baseball can be forgotten for the rest of the winter. Tommy Collela, our old Sunday hero is really clicking this year. See where they beat Sinkwich & his crew a couple weeks ago. You always said you wouldn’t be able to stop the guy if he had a line & from the looks of things he’s got plenty of good healthy beef in front of him now. Bet “Bow” Redmond is telling everyone all about it wherever Bow is now. See So. Park lost to Bennet again this year, that’s getting monotonous, don’t you think. You know In a way I feel safer in France on Saturdays then I used to feel when the two of us would listen to Notre Dame. Every time they made a “Touch” I used to wonder if my insurance policy was paid in full. You’d beat on my shoulders with that “Irish” power but every now & then you’d wind up with a chair in your hands so I always figured it was time to brush my teeth on at least the Table between us. Received let. from Aunt Flo & Ed & Ken & Kitty. Will try to answer today. Bob DeWitts running around with my old girl, How do you like that. Well, take things easy & leave a glass or two of Elmer’s beer for an old Dragon.

Received a package from home yesterday & have eaten most of it already. It landed in good shape & no one can figure out what I want the summer shorts for, so close to winter. Will save them for next summer & continue wearing my “long Johns”. Am hoping for a letter or two tonight as I haven’t received any in 3 days, that’s the way it usually runs. – Well, things are still rather quiet where I am & we might be bedding down for the winter, sure hope so. How is everyone at home, hope everyone is well. Amy enjoying the salt water Taffy now. Bet dad will be confused when he gets my letter, it confuses me also. According to this new point discharge system I’m about a year off the beam but it doesn’t matter as yet as we’ve still got a war to win. Don’t worry about me sleeping in a foxhole, the only time to worry is when I’m not sleeping in it. Its 2nd nature to me now. Boy Oh Boy! is this Taffy good. Think I’ll open a Candy Kitchen when I return. See where Lorenzo is building a new nest. Should be nice.

Love to all, Eddie

------------------------------------------------
And from the 1944 Hit Parade

A soldier fights because he has to, he doesn’t like to fight but he will for himself and for his family & friends he wants to preserve the little things he loves.

Soldiers aren’t courageous either, they’re isn’t anyone who has more fears than a soldier.I don’t believe we’re fighting to “make the world safe for democracy” I think we’re fighting for us, our present & future happiness. We aren’t getting gray hairs over the the welfare of those who are to follow, they mean just about all of nothing to us.

Every soldier is fighting for the mother, the father & brothers & sisters he loves the kitchen & dining room & bedroom he wants to come home to.